Marco Rubio's campaign logo perplexes design experts

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) on Monday announced his campaign for president. AP/Wilfredo Lee Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) on Monday announced a long-expected bid for president. His campaign's logo, however, struck some design experts as a little rushed.

Karl Gude, a graphics professor at Michigan State University and a former graphics artist at Newsweek and the Associated Press, told Business Insider, for example, that the America dotting the "i" in Rubio was missing Alaska and Hawaii.

"The map feels like an afterthought," Gude said. "He just lost the Alaska and Hawaii vote."

Richard Westendorf, a creative director at Landor Associates brand consultants, told Business Insider the "dot in the 'i' is unfortunate."

"Kudos for wanting to add emphasis, but the US map is complex and clunky; a simpler icon that says 'America' would have served him better," he added.

Westendorf did give Rubio credit, however, for trying to convey youth and optimism in his campaign symbol, and he called the logo's color palette and font a "fresh take."

"The all lowercase and sans serif type treatment speak to modernity and approachability," Westendorf said. "If Rubio wants to look like he's more youthful and not stuck in the past (which the tagline seems to imply) it seems he's hit the mark."

Marco Rubio.com

Though Gude agreed that Rubio's look was "laid-back," he worried it might be a little too casual for presidential politics.

"The logo feels like it's missing the requisite mug shot above the name with the words 'Realtor' written under it," he said. "I suppose that might be OK, since what realtor doesn't want to convey that they're laid-back and likable?"

Debbie Millman, chair of the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, found the logo "fairly innocuous and fairly friendly," but she couldn't condone Rubio's use of a map to dot the "i."

"The teeny-tiny little map of America over the 'i' in Rubio makes me wonder what is more of a priority to this candidate: Marco Rubio or the residents of this country?" she said.